


I Found Him

by Connorperry42



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Past Child Abuse, Spanking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-04 02:40:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4122859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Connorperry42/pseuds/Connorperry42
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jessica Pearson lost her son 19 years ago, he was abducted from his crib in the middle of the night. Now, because of some fluke test at the firm that she'd agreed to solely to lower the insurance cost she has found him. How will she tell him? How will he react? Where was he? Who took him?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Jessica's Perspective

Jessica stared at the results in her hand. She couldn’t believe it, after all these years of searching and she had finally found her son. Through some fluke of a long shot she had found him. She still couldn’t believe that she had agreed to do it, it was only because it would lower the insurance costs at the firm for a year – some promotional thing or something – which she’d agreed and yet it had led to the most important discovery of her life.   
As soon as she’d gotten the results she’d had them retested, twice. Once she’d been certain she’d looked over her son’s history, doing a thorough background search. There wasn’t much. Her son had been found when he was eleven – where he was until then no one knows. He was never adopted but bounced around from foster home to group home and back to foster home all throughout his childhood until he was eighteen at which time he tested out of high school and law school at some local college – not Harvard but she’d live with that – before falling off the map for almost a year until he had been hired by one Harvey Specter and come to work at her firm.   
She didn’t know how she would approach him, didn’t know how he would react. She didn’t know if he had been looking for her or if he hadn’t wanted to know anything about her. She hadn’t seen him since he was six months and now here he was, nineteen years old, and working as an associate. She decided to just watch him for a little while. She had been watching him for a week and she did not like what she was finding.   
He was always here before everyone else and he stayed longer than anyone else. She wondered when he had time to sleep? Given her son’s crazy work hours she took a look at the charges on the firms account for food bills but there was no increase from what it was before so although he was here most every night he didn’t seem to be eating anything. She couldn’t help but wonder when he was finding the time to eat or what he was eating?  
He was constantly running around between Harvey’s office, Louis’s office, the file room, and for some reason the IT department as well as visiting the paralegal Rachael Zane. He also spent a great deal of time at his cubicle; sometimes he would stay at his cubicle for up to twelve hours at a stretch without ever getting up. She couldn’t believe that he could have such single minded focus. He didn’t seem to know everything, there were a lot of things that he didn’t understand that all of the other associates had learned in college but she chalked that up to the fact that he hadn’t actually gone to a college but rather tested out so those experiences would be unknown to him.  
She knew that her son was Caucasian but then so was his father, and she wasn’t all that dark skinned actually. She was willing to bet that if her son were ever outside long enough to tan then he would do so quickly and also that he probably never burned. It wasn’t unusual; it just wasn’t common.  
After watching her son for an entire week she came to one conclusion. He had no idea how to take care of himself. She was worried. She had just found her son and she was thrilled about it but her son wasn’t eating, he wasn’t sleeping, he was over working, he lived in a horrible part of town where he could easily be mugged or killed, he rode his bike through the crazy new york streets and came close to being hit on at least three separate occasions that she’d witnessed in the past week, let alone how many times he’d come close since he’d started riding. She wondered if he ever had been hit? The odds were good that he had, multiple times. No the boy needed supervision.   
After a week of watching her son she finally came up with an idea. She wasn’t going to tell him, not yet, but she was going to make herself a larger fixture in his life. Sure she was his boss’s boss but every time she saw him he would offer a small, nervous smile and then go the opposite way. She was rarely in the same room as her son for more than five minutes.   
Having made her decision she spent an entire day finding a case that was lengthy and would keep her son in close proximity to her the entire time. Eventually she found one that had over a hundred file boxes – all of which could fit into the corner of her office by the table where se could set her son up so that she’d be able to keep an eye on him the whole time. It was a very detail oriented case and was big on numbers but from what she’d learned both of those things were in her son’s wheelhouse. Based on her math this one case would keep her son with her for a good three weeks especially since she had other cases to work on at the same time so her son would be doing almost all of the work himself. She had already had everything required brought up and set in her office including anything that might be needed from the file room so her son would have no reason to leave. She also made sure that she was fully stocked with highlighters, pens, markers, tabs, and anything else that her son might need while he worked. She even had someone from IT set to come up and bring a laptop for her son to use.   
With all of her plans made she went to Harvey’s office. “I’m borrowing your associate for a case” she informed him.  
“Excuse me?” Harvey asked confused, looking up from his work.  
“I’m borrowing your associate for a case” she repeated.  
Harvey arched an eyebrow, “We’re working on something at the moment, I need him. Couldn’t you take someone else?”  
“I know for a fact that you’ve just finished with your latest case and I will take whom I like, you may take another associate though. This case may take a while and I want him exclusively for the entire duration” Jessica said. Not waiting for a reply she headed out of Harvey’s office.   
Harvey sat back in his chair completely confused, what the hell had just happened? He watched as Donna made a phone call no doubt informing the associate of his new, temporary, placement.

A knock on her door brought Jessica back to her thoughts, she was nervous she couldn’t deny it but she was also excited. She gestured her son in while finishing up with a document. She looked up once she was done and took a good look at her son. He was doing his best not to fidget but she could see that he was nervous, he was also rather thin and there were slight bags under his eyes. The boy needed food and rest and that was something that he would be getting while working with her, after all that was one of the biggest reasons that she wanted him to work with her in the first place.   
“You wanted to see me?” He asked nervously when he saw that he had her attention.  
“Yes. I’ve decided to put you on one of my cases” she said gesturing to the boxes piled up next to the table. She took the time to explain the case and what was needed of him.   
He listened intently to her instructions, once she was finished he walked over to the pile of boxes and started to grab a few and carry them out. “Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.  
“Um… to my cubicle” he said hesitantly.  
“There are too many boxes to fit in your cubicle and I can’t have you coming in and out randomly, you’ll work from here. Everything you need is set up at the table” she said.  
He hesitated for a moment before moving back to the table and setting his boxes down. “How long will I be working from here exactly?” he asked.  
“As long as this case goes on” she answered as he sat down.   
Just then there was another knock at her door. She looked up to see it was one of the IT people with the computer she’d requested for her son. She gestured the IT guy in. “Please put it on the table and set it up as instructed” she said. She had requested that she have access to see what was being done on the computer and have control over it if she wanted and that the computer be able to print from the printer in her office.   
The IT guy just nodded his head and then went over to the table where her son was now sitting.   
“Hey Benjamin” her son said looking up at the guy that had come in.  
“Hey, what are you doing here?” The guy, Benjamin apparently, said.  
“A case” her son replied, “You?”  
“Getting a computer set up, for you I’d guess” Benjamin answered.  
Her son turned a confused look to her, “So that you don’t need to run back to your desk in order to use a computer” Jessica explained.  
“Right” her son said before turning back to Benjamin, “So, did you crack it yet?”  
Benjamin shot her son a glare, “Haven’t had the time” he said.  
“Bull” Her son objected, “Let me know if you need a hint”  
“Not gonna happen” Benjamin said to her son. He stood up then and went over to Jessica’s computer, “I need access to your computer for a few minutes in order to finish” he said.  
“Very well” Jessica said as she stood up and moved out of the way. She was curious as to what the two of them had been discussing and how they knew each other. It was clear that they were friendly and it explained why her son would head down to the IT department but how they met to begin with was beyond her. What they had in common was a mystery to her as well seeing as Benjamin was a computer person and her son was an associate.   
Benjamin finished quickly and moved away from her desk, “Do you need me to show you how to use it?” he asked.  
“No thank you” she answered, she was aware of how these things worked.  
Her son shot Benjamin a confused look and mouthed, ‘use what?’  
Benjamin shook his head and mouthed back, ‘mobile’  
Her son nodded his head and turned back to his work.  
Benjamin left Jessica’s office then and she turned to her son, “So, you two seem to know each other” she commented.  
Her son turned and gave her a confused glance, “I guess” he said shrugging his shoulders and turning back around.  
She let it alone for now, knowing she’d get more details later. They worked silently for a few minutes before she realized that her son was rather restless. The boy didn’t appear capable of sitting still, ever. If he wasn’t tapping his pen then he was shaking his leg, or tapping the desk, or turning his chair or any number of annoying little ticks. Eventually it became too much, “Is there any reason that you’re incapable of sitting still?” she asked.  
Her son turned to her, “Um… Sorry. Didn’t realize I was doing it”  
“Is this an every day occurrence?” she asked. She hadn’t noticed it and there hadn’t been any complaints from the other associates.  
Her son seemed to think about it for a minute before shaking his head, “Not that I know of”  
“Then why is it that you are having issues now?” she asked.  
Her son shrugged, “Usually I have my music” he offered.  
She thought about it for a minute, realizing that every time she’d seen him at his desk he did have his headphones in his ears, “Very well, go grab what you need and come straight back.”  
“Huh?” he asked.  
She set down her work and looked up at him, straight in the eye, “I cannot have you constantly fidgeting, I’ll get nothing done. If your music allows you to work without doing so then go and get it” she instructed.  
He hesitated for a moment more before deciding that she was being serious and got up and hurried out of the room. He came back a couple of minutes later with his messenger bag, sat down and put his headphones in his ears before getting back to work. She stared at him a moment longer before shaking her head and getting back to work herself. Yes she was going to have her hands full with Michael Ross.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Jessica's Perspective

Jessica entered the firm a little before five in the morning on November 1st. She wanted to get in early so that she could organize a few things, namely, Christmas decorations.   
She used to love Christmas, growing up she could hardly wait until Halloween was over so that they could decorate the house. Yes she knew that Thanksgiving came first however there wasn’t exactly a lot of decorations that one could do for thanksgiving so while it was still celebrated Christmas was at the forefront of her mind. She had always put out the Christmas decorations and started the Christmas music as soon as November started, that was, until she lost her son.   
Ever since Mike had been abducted she had lost her interest in celebrating anything, even Christmas. Yes there was always a firm Christmas party and she still spent the day with her parents however she always held off on the decorating at the firm until the week before Christmas and never put any up at her home. Now though, she had her son back and while he may not know who she was to him he was still in her office every day where she could keep an eye on him. She had her son back in her life, she’d found him and once again she was in the Christmas spirit.   
It had currently been twelve days since she’d learned that Mike Ross was her son and it was four days of Mike working from her office. She knew that the case would take at least three more months, having specifically picked the most time consuming case that the firm had. She would have her son with her on Christmas and thanksgiving and every other holiday for the rest of her life.  
Ever since she had brought Mike into her office she had been studying the boy even closer than she was before. She had occasionally asked random questions in-between questions on the case at the end of every day when he gave her an overview of what useful information he had learned. The questions confused him, she could tell, but she couldn’t help it she was curious about her son. With the information she’d learned she had started re-decorating his room to fit his likings. She had finally removed the crib and baby furniture (she had kept the room exactly as it had been when Mike had been abducted but now she needed it to be available for her son and the baby items wouldn’t work any longer. She had put a queen-sized bed in the room and a dresser, a desk, a nightstand and two large bookshelves. From what she’d learned her son really liked to read so she had done her best to learn what kind of books he enjoyed only to learn that the only requirement that he had was that it had a lot of words and few pictures. With that in mind she’d filled half of the shelves with a mixture of almost every genre only foregoing the romance (and any other female oriented books), anime and children’s books. She also made sure that there was an extremely comfortable chair for him to sit and read in. Learning that his favorite color was blue she had used that to paint the walls a nice light blue and then put a darker shade of blue as the bedding. She even put blue towels in the bathroom. She had gone so far as to get a small amount of clothing for him in what she hoped was the appropriate size.   
This morning she had taken the teddy bear off of her bed, having moved it there the night of her son’s disappearance and keeping it there ever since, and had put it on the bed in her son’s bedroom completing the space. After having done so she’d headed to the office so that she could draft an email to maintenance to inform them to get the Christmas decorations out of storage and starting to set it up though the trees would wait until December.  
She smiled as she got into the elevator; she had enjoyed the last four days immensely. Having her son in the same room all day long was amazing. She had sent him out every day for lunch insisting that he was not allowed to work on the case while he was supposed to be taking time to eat. On the first day she had seen him walk into Harvey’s office but he’d only been in there for ten minutes before he dejectedly walked out – Harvey had followed her instructions and given her Mike exclusively. After that first day he had always headed to the elevator so she counted that as a victory. She had also made sure that he left at six thirty every night, to make sure that he actually left she would leave at the same time. They always parted in the lobby because he didn’t park in the garage; she had been meaning to give him a pass so that he could do so. Sure the garage was meant for the partners only but not all partners used it since a lot had personal drivers. Still though she was worried, despite having the extra free time Mike still looked as though he hadn’t eaten a decent meal in months and the bags under his eyes had been getting worse as well. She didn’t understand it and was debating on stepping in a bit further but didn’t want to scare Mike off.  
She stepped off the elevator already drafting her email in her head when she saw a light on in the bullpen. Curious as to who would be at the firm at this hour she walked over. Needless to say she wasn’t happy to see her son hunched over his desk with headphones in his ears working on files. She redirected herself and went straight over to her son.  
She pulled the file out from beneath his grasp and watched as his eyes snapped up to her widening in surprise as he took in who had interrupted his work. “I thought I said that you were not to work on the case after hours or out of my office” she said once he had taken the headphones out of his ears.  
“You did” he responded somewhat skeptically.  
“Then what do you think you’re doing?” she asked.  
“Louis’ work” he answered.  
She paused. She had told Harvey that she was taking Mike exclusively but she had failed to inform Louis of the same thing since Louis was in charge of the associates and also gave Mike work, she should have thought this through a little more. Well, she’d handle it now.   
“Um… Could you hand it back?” he asked, “Please” he added hastily.  
She looked at him, he had deep bags under his eyes and there were numerous cans of red bull littering his desk as well as a well-used coffee cup however she noted that there was no food wrappers or leftovers anywhere in sight, not even the trashcan. So he was sleep deprived, starving, and running on nothing more than caffeine and sugar, she also noted that he was breathing through his mouth, there were several Kleenexes in the trash and sweat forming on his forehead. “No” she stated simply.  
“Huh?” he asked scrunching up his brow in confusion. “Louis wants these first thing”  
“How long have you been at this?” she asked.  
“Uh…” he looked down at his watch, did he always wear it backwards? “seven hours”  
Her eyebrows shot up and she took a look at what all was on his desk, there were over twenty folders there and they weren’t thin. He had completed all this in seven hours? He really was good. As proud as she was of what her son was capable of it also meant that he had been at the firm since 9 last night thus he’d only been home for two and a half hours, that wasn’t good. “And how often does Louis leave you work?”  
“Everyday” Mike answered still appearing confused as to the point of this conversation.  
“Did I not tell you to go home?” she asked.  
“Yes and I did”  
Gesturing at their surroundings she turned to him, “So this is your home then?”  
“No. I went home, cleaned up, changed and then came back”  
“Every night?”  
“Every night for the past few”  
“How long?”  
He paused, “This would be my… sixth night”  
“With me. Bring your things” she instructed walking back towards the elevators. She could scream. Her son hadn’t gotten sleep in six nights! Clearly she wasn’t keeping a close enough eye on him. Well that would be fixed.   
“Where are we going?” Mike asked as they entered the elevators.  
Jessica didn’t answer just stared straight ahead as she listened to her son’s somewhat labored breathing from congestion. As they walked off the elevator she stopped at the security desk informing Mike to wait at the edge while she went over and collected copies of the security footage since Mike had started working there. It took a few minutes before she was walking out with a three discs in her purse, she paused when she saw her son joking around with the night security guards.   
It amazed her how many people Mike seemed to know. From what she could tell he knew the people in IT (at least two others had come in to fix both her computer and the one she had in the office for Mike after there was a freak system malfunction and they had both known Mike and had discussed some others whom she guessed worked in IT as well). He also seemed to know every paralegal and had suggested the ones that would help her with her work when she had asked, apparently there were some that had specialties and some to avoid. He also knew every secretary in the building and greeted him or her all by name when he passed. Yesterday she’d learned that he knew the janitorial/maintenance staff as well. There had been some type of issue on the forty-fifth floor and she had been forced to go down and deal with it. The floor was empty for updating and when she’d gotten down there she had met with both the head of maintenance and the head of janitorial. Once she was done fixing the issue she had headed back out, as she walked towards the elevator she had seen Mike sitting and talking with multiple workers from both areas. She had let him alone because it was his lunch break but had been curious.   
She shook her head as she walked over and collected her son. They headed down to the parking garage and straight to her car. “Get in” she instructed once the doors were unlocked.  
Mike froze, “I don’t think that’s such a good idea”  
“It wasn’t a suggestion. We have some things to work on and I would like to go over them during breakfast”  
“It’s 5:58”  
“And I know a good restaurant that opens at 6. It has a wonderful breakfast menu. Now get in” she said again.  
Mike hesitated for a moment before finally complying.   
Once they were both out of the garage Jessica turned up the heat and watched as her son finally stopped shivering, granted he was really good at hiding it. It wasn’t two minutes into the drive though and Mike was bouncing his leg up and down and tapping his knees. Shaking her head she turned on one of her CD’s hoping that it would stop the constant movement. It was a Christmas CD that she’d dusted off and put into the player just this morning, she had expected a question or two, a curious glance at the least. Instead she saw surprise cross Mike’s face before a small smirk appeared and he settled back into the seat movement having ceased.  
“I like Christmas too” Mike said suddenly a few minutes later.  
Jessica looked over at him partially surprised, partially thrilled. “It can never come soon enough in my opinion” she said wanting to continue the conversation. She couldn’t believe it but was thrilled, she did enjoy finding something that she had in common with her son.  
“I know what you mean. Best day of the year”   
She smiled and pulled into the parking lot. They were seated and had ordered before she had the chance to continue the conversation. “So, do you have any special traditions for Christmas?”  
Mike hesitated before answering, “I… sit down and have a filling meal” he said eventually.  
He had answered casually, as if he were somewhat joking even, but she couldn’t help but hear the slight sadness that he had hidden in there. Was Christmas one of the few times he actually had enough to eat? If that were the case what could have happened to cause it? Still she just laughed slightly and moved on.   
The food came shortly after and then discussed the case and they ate. Jessica kept watching her son; she was worried at how little he was actually eating. In hopes of getting him to consume more she slowed her pace to give Mike more time. Halfway through his plate though Mike put his fork down and pushed it away a bit. “Not hungry?” she asked casually.  
Mike snapped his head up and looked at her in slight surprise, “Uh… full” he said eventually.  
She had to bite her tongue to stop herself from prodding him into eating more knowing that it would only confuse and possibly scare him away and she didn’t want that. “So, when was the last time you slept?” she asked.  
“What?” he asked.  
“You have admitted that you’ve been working both day and night for the past six days, when was the last time you have had a proper nights sleep?”  
She felt horrible at the amount of time it took Mike to come up with the answer. “A few days” he answered eventually.  
She could tell he was lowballing it and that hurt her all the more. “How long have you been sick?” she asked continuing her interrogation.  
“I’m sick?” he asked.  
She watched him questioningly as he did his best to hide a yawn and keep from rubbing his eyes. He was tired and having food in his stomach only made the issue worse, she was willing to bet that soon he wouldn’t even be fully awake and it would be somewhat easy to get him home and into bed. “I would say that a fever and a stuffy nose is being sick” she said.  
“Oh.” He responded looking a bit dazed, “I have a stuffy nose?”  
Well that was all she needed to hear before cementing her decision. “Let’s go” she said standing up once the waiter came back with her recite.   
Jessica led Mike back to her car and cranked the heat before putting the music on low so that it played lightly in the background. By the time she pulled into her own garage Mike was lightly dozing in the passengers seat. She avoided waking him completely as she led him to his room and helped him get changed into the pajamas that she’d placed in there for him. By the time she was pulling the covers up over him he was dead to the world and clutching his bear. She leant down and kissed his forehead before heading out, leaving the door slightly cracked.   
Sitting down in the living room she called her driver and had him run a few errands for her and then typed up the email to maintenance she had been planning on sending earlier. She also typed an email to all senior partners to inform them that she would not be in today for personal reasons but if there were any issues her cellphone was always on. Lastly she rescheduled her calendar.  
Her driver came back an hour later with everything on the list. The first thing she did was take out the ear thermometer, clean it and then head to her son’s room. She wasn’t thrilled when the reading came back at 101.3 degrees but at least it wasn’t anything too serious. She sighed, as she made sure that he was wrapped up in his blankets and then headed back out. She paused at the door and just took in the sight before her. It was a dream come true; her son was safely asleep in his bed, in his room, in her home. She had almost given up hope that it would ever happen. She let a tear slide down her face as she walked back to the living room and started in on her work.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Mike's Perspective

Mike came around slowly. He knew immediately that he wasn’t in his apartment, nothing added up. The bed he was on was far too soft, it felt like he was sleeping on a cloud, so much better than his couch (no it was not a pull out it was just a regular couch) with the spring sticking out. The blankets were warm and soft, comfortable, different from the three sheets that he’d picked up at the local pawn store for a buck a piece and then bleached thoroughly. No he wasn’t in his apartment but he also knew that he wasn’t in any danger – how could he be there was music playing.   
It was faint and low but it was definitely there. Mike had learned from a young age that music equaled safety. When the music was playing it meant that ‘Sir’ was out and wouldn’t be back for a while. ‘Sir’ didn’t like music of any kind and thus music wasn’t allowed to be on with ‘Sir’ there and ‘Sir’ would turn it on before he left thinking of it as some type of punishment but in truth it was the last thing from a punishment. The old radio only ever had one station, it was a country station and if you tried to change it then all you would receive was static thus country is what they listened to. Mike loved country music.   
The music that was currently playing wasn’t country, it was Christmas but regardless it was still music meaning that he was still safe.   
Mike laid there for a few minutes more internally debating if he actually wanted to get up or even open his eyes. He was warm, comfortable and safe and it was the first time in his life that he could remember being so. Mike sighed as he turned on his side, that’s when he caught the smell of his blanket only; it was a lot stronger than he ever remembered his blanket being.  
When Mike was five he was digging through some of the boxes in ‘Sir’s’ closet. Mike had been sent to clean ‘his’ room while ‘Sir’ was out. He had been moving the boxes to sweep the closet floor when he saw one with the numbers, 27-30 on it. Mike’s number was 28, meaning that he might have something in the box. Mike quickly picked the lock and searched through the box. The only thing in there with 28 on it was a sealed plastic bag with a blanket in it. Curious Mike snuck the bag back to his cube (literally just what it sounded like, all of them had one of their own. They were small and cramped but private) and then finished cleaning ‘Sir’s’ room.   
Later that night Mike had cracked the top of his cube open so that he could see (they were all kept in the cubes at night) and then he opened the bag slowly. The first thing that hit him was the smell; it was different from every other smell he could ever remember coming across. It was a pleasant smell, one that he equated to caring and comfort, safety and love. He didn’t know why the smell of the blanket made him feel that way but he liked it. The other thing on the blanket was the name Michael stitched into it in the bottom right hand corner. It was blue and soft and he loved it. His blanket gave him comfort and a name; he still kept it with him when he slept.   
As he now lay in the bed, under the warm blankets, Mike brought his blanket to his face only to pause. He didn’t think that this was his blanket. His blanket was soft and while this was also soft it was something else as well. Furry? His blanket smelled the same as whatever this was but this item smelled stronger than his blanket. How was that possible? Mike had never come across anything that smelled like his blanket, and he’d tried. By this point Mike was even starting to wonder if his blanket still held the smell or if it was psychosomatic? But whatever this was definitely smelled like the blanket did - or had? The blanket hadn’t even smelled this strong when he’d first found it.   
Curiosity getting the better of him Mike cracked his eyes open. He was shocked when he found himself face to face with a stuffed bear.   
Thinking that he was missing something Mike sat up and looked around for his blanket, maybe he had just imagined the strength of the smell. But his blanket wasn’t in sight, could he have just dreamed it? No the smell was still around somewhere. With no other ideas he tentatively brought the stuffed bear up to his nose and took a quick sniff. It was the bear! The bear smelled like his blanket! How?  
He sat there staring at the bear for a solid five minutes trying to figure out the puzzle he held in his hands. He came up with nothing useful. The only decision he did come to was that the bear must belong to him. Sure he’d never seen it before but it smelled like his blanket and nothing else he’d ever found had so the bear must belong to him. Sure that was a shaky reason and he doubted it would hold up in court but at the moment he really didn’t care. The bear smelled right so it was his.   
Mike had just come to this conclusion when the door to the room opened. He jerked his head up as the music got slightly louder and to his surprise, Jessica Pearson was walking into the room wearing slacks and a button down long sleeve shirt carrying a glass in one hand and a weird looking device in the other.   
“Oh, good you’re up” Mrs. Pearson said upon seeing Mike sitting up in the bed.  
Mike quirked his head before turning to look at the clock, it read 8:30. He was late! “Shit, I’m sorry” he said hurrying out of the bed and towards her and the door planning on heading off to work.  
“Mike, calm down” Mrs. Pearson said holding up her hand that held the weird device.  
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be late. I don’t normally do this” Mike started to ramble.  
Mrs. Pearson moved the weird device to her pocket before putting her now free hand on Mike’s shoulder and guiding him back to the bed while insuring him that he wasn’t late and telling him that he needed to get back to bed.   
“Here, drink this” Mrs. Pearson instructed as she placed the cup into Mike’s hands and then pulled out the device from her pocket.   
Mike shot her a confused look before taking a quick sniff of the drink, it smelled like orange juice, noticing that Mrs. Pearson was watching him Mike took a hesitant sip of the drink, it tasted like orange juice. He took a few more swallows before Mrs. Pearson seemed satisfied and brought the device up to the side of his face. Mike instinctually jerked away now knowing what it was she was doing.  
“Hold still Mike, this’ll only take a minute” Mrs. Pearson instructed.  
She brought the device up to the side of his face again and Mike jerked away once more.  
“Mike” Mrs. Pearson said in a slight warning.  
“What is that?” Mike asked quickly.  
Mrs. Pearson’s face softened slightly, “It’s a thermometer” she answered.  
Mike eyed her warily as she brought it up to him once more only this time she let him see it, take it even and look it over. Once Mike was satisfied he handed it back to her and she put the tip of it in his ear. It felt strange but it wasn’t painful so he allowed it.   
Soon enough the thermometer emitted a strange little beep and it was removed. He took another sip of the juice as he watched Mrs. Pearson’s reaction to the reading. She seemed pleased so he guessed it wasn’t bad.   
“So why were you taking my temperature?” Mike asked as he finished the juice.  
Mrs. Pearson looked at him closely, “Do you remember what happened yesterday?” she asked slowly.  
Mike paused, yesterday. “I was working at my desk until around 6:30 and then I dropped the files in Louis’ office, talked to the night janitorial as they were gathering their things to leave, then I went to your office and worked until lunch when I went down to IT and then I went back to your office and worked until 6:30 that evening when I went home, showered, changed, grabbed something to eat” an apple and a red bull, all the required ingredients of a healthy, balanced diet, “before heading back to the firm, talking to the night security staff for a few minutes and then starting in on Louis’ work. That’s what you stopped me from doing this morning” Mike finished.  
Mrs. Pearson watched him for a few more minutes before speaking up, “Mike, I stopped you from working yesterday morning. You slept almost all day yesterday” she said.  
“What? No” he couldn’t have slept through an entire day, he’d barely slept through an entire night before. There was no way he slept through a day. And yet, Mrs. Pearson looked to be completely serious, there was no indication that she was lying to him. Just to be sure he looked at his watch, yep, it read Sunday November 2. Not good. “Shit sorry”   
“OK first stop with the swearing” Mrs. Pearson admonished. “Second, you’ve done nothing wrong. You are sick, you need sleep and you’re also sleep deprived. Sleep is one of the things you need most right now” As she spoke she gently pushed Mike back down into a laying position on the bed.  
Mike was confused to say the least. What the hell did his health matter so long as he could work? “Mrs. Pear…”  
“Jessica” Mrs. Pearson Jessica, corrected.  
“OK” He shot her a hesitant look, “Jessica” Yep, strange.  
“Yes” she said as she started to bring the covers up to his chest.  
“What’s going on?” he asked.  
“What’s going on is that you need sleep. Now, try and get back to sleep. I’ll wake you in a few hours for something to eat” she cajoled. She spoke softly then giving him placating hums as he tried to get further answers out of her.   
Mike was confused as hell. Why was she doing this? What was the point? What had happened? No one ever cared if Mike slept, or if he ate, or if he was healthy, so why did Mrs. Pear Jessica?  
Mike lay there fighting the sleep that was starting to over rule his mind and drag him down into unconsciousness. He was almost there when he saw Jessica pick up his bear. “That’s mine!” he exclaimed as he yanked it out of her hand. He pressed the bear to his face, taking in the scent that he loved so much. There were still a million questions running through his head but his body won out and he soon slipped into unconsciousness completely missing the smile that crossed Jessica’s face as she watched while running a hand through his hair and humming along with the music playing in the background.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Mike's Perspective

When Mike came around again it was to someone running their hand through his hair and calling his name softly. He groaned, did he fall asleep on Harvey’s couch again? Donna was gonna kill him with her mothering if he did. Sighing as he realized that he truly couldn’t lay here any longer for he did need to get to work he brought his hands up to his face and started to rub at his eyes. “Sorry, Donna, didn’t mean to” he mumbled as he sat up.  
The hand in his hair hesitated for a moment before continuing. “Mike,”  
Mike stiffened, that wasn’t Donna’s voice. It took him a moment before he remembered the events of the past couple of days, week, actually considering that he’d been giving Harvey the silent treatment since he had been handed off to Jessica with no reason what so ever so there was no way that he’d have fallen asleep on Harvey’s couch anyway.   
Mike sat up fully and turned to look at Jessica, “Sorry, a little groggy” he said.  
Jessica smiled at him, “It’s alright. I was just waking you up because you need to eat something” she said.  
Mike wasn’t exactly hungry but Jessica seemed to view this as important and she was his boss’ boss so he just nodded his head and started to stand up, hiding his bear under the blankets so that Jessica couldn’t take it. He slowly followed Jessica out of the room and into the kitchen realizing as he went that he had apparently changed into sleep clothes at some point between yesterday morning and now. As he came to this realization he also figured something else out and stopped short. Jessica had taken his temperature, meaning that he’d probably had a fever. He started to get nervous wondering just how long Jessica had been around him for and what it is that he’d said during his fevered slumber and in what language that he’d said it in. He also wondered what languages that Jessica spoke? With any luck even if he did say something (and if he had a fever it was more than likely that he’d had numerous nightmares that involved him screaming, begging and pleading) Jessica wouldn’t have understood the language that he spoke in. One good thing about having an eidetic memory was that he remembered languages easily and had learned over a hundred in his lifetime thus far; he wanted to learn them all. His past might not have been healthy for him but it was definitely conducive to learning many new things (whether they were all legal was an entirely different matter).  
“Is something wrong?” Jessica asked in what appeared to be concern and laying a hand on his shoulder.   
Mike was jerked out of his thoughts and looked up at Jessica replaying her question to hear what it was, another nice thing about an eidetic memory is that he could replay just about any moment even if he wasn’t fully paying attention. “No, nothing’s wrong” he answered.  
Jessica nodded and continued leading Mike toward the kitchen while keeping the hand on his shoulder. Mike was a bit confused at the close proximity and continuous touching but it wasn’t harming him so he let it alone.  
Jessica directed Mike over to the only seat at the table that had food – a bowl of soup. “You’re not eating” he asked.  
“No, I already have”   
“Oh” he looked down at the bowl. He really wasn’t hungry but still, he picked up the spoon and took a small bite of the soup, it wasn’t bad but he would have added a couple more spices, still though it was edible.   
Thirty minutes later and Mike had completed a quarter of the bowl before pushing it away.   
“You haven’t eaten in over a day and a half” Jessica said in slight admonishment.  
Mike shrugged, “Not hungry”  
“You should try to eat more”  
Mike sighed, he ate a few more bites before pushing the soup away again. He waited hoping that Jessica wouldn’t press him to eat more, he really wasn’t hungry. Thankfully Jessica just took the bowl away and put it in the sink.   
“Why don’t you try to get a bit more sleep”   
“I’m not really tired” Mike replied. He had just been sleeping for over a day the last thing he wanted now was to sleep more actually he felt as though he could run a marathon.   
“Well, is there anything that you’d like to do?” Jessica asked.  
Mike couldn’t figure her out. She was being strange and he was uncomfortable. “Um…” he looked around the room and saw some large climbing contraption outside through the back door, he liked to climb. “I want to go out” he answered.  
“You’re still recovering, I don’t think you should be going anywhere”  
“No.” Since when was where he went outside of work her concern? “I meant that I want to go to the backyard… climb a bit”  
Jessica seemed to visibly pause before answering, “Alright, but you have to dress warmly and you can only be out for a half an hour”  
“Right” What the hell? Mike stood up and paused, he didn’t have any other clothes. “Where might I find some clothes?” he questioned.  
“Oh! There are some clothes in the closet in y… “ Jessica paused like she was catching herself, “In the spare room”  
“OK…” Mike said just becoming more confused as time went on. Nonetheless he headed for the spare room and found that there was a small assortment of clothing available. Why would Jessica have clothes that were around his size? As far as he knew she didn’t have a son. Also the room, it was basically the picture perfect ideal room in his opinion. It had loads of books and the color was his favorite. It just didn’t make sense.  
As soon as Mike was dressed he headed back into the kitchen and out the door leading to the backyard. Jessica had to have some money; it cost a lot to have a backyard this size in uptown New York. It was nice though; there was what looked to be an entire playground out here. It was huge; the equipment was the size for a full grown adult and most of it was climbing or some other physical activity.   
Mike took a quick look at his watch and then headed straight for the climbing wall, this would be fun. 

Mike had only been outside for twenty-six minutes when he heard voices from beneath him. His natural curiosity getting the better of him he froze and listened in.  
“I can’t believe that we aren’t allowed on this thing” a female voice said.  
“Yeah, it’s the only one that we can still fit on” a male voice joined in.  
“And it’s the only thing to do around here”  
“I still don’t know why we can’t go on here”  
“Because Aunt Jessica doesn’t like anyone to touch it, it belongs to her son”  
“Grandpa built it when he was just an infant, he never even touched it. It should be no big deal” the boy complained.  
“You know how Aunt Jessica is. She wants nothing to be different for when she ‘finds him’” The girl said somewhat sarcastically.  
So Jessica had that room put together for her son? If that was the case then why had she put him in it? If no one was allowed on this equipment then why had she let him? He knew he wasn’t her son, so what made him special?  
“Mike, time’s up” Jessica called from the kitchen door.  
Mike sighed and quickly climbed down ignoring the stunned, and somewhat annoyed, looks from the two standing near the base of the equipment as he walked inside. He walked past Jessica into the kitchen and saw that there was an older couple standing there, they looked as though they were a couple of years older than Jessica. The two from outside came in as well, Mike would guess that they were all family based on the way they looked alike.  
“I’m just gonna head off” Mike said as he tried to head towards the door to the kitchen planning to head back to his place now that he was dressed, he didn’t have his keys but that was really no big deal, he knew how to pick a lock and he also could get in through the back window leading to the fire escape.  
Jessica stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder, “Where are you planning on going?”  
Mike shrugged her hand off, “Just heading back to my place. I’ll be at work in the morning” he stifled a cough before he tried to leave again.  
Jessica sighed, “Mike, why don’t you just head back to the spare room”  
Mike shook his head, “No. This is a family thing, I’ll let you be”  
Jessica once again put her hand on his shoulder and started steering him towards the spare room, “You are still sick. You’re not going anywhere but back to the room.”  
Mike tried to argue and head towards the door but Jessica just kept giving him placating answers as she took a firmer grip on him and eventually got him to the desired destination.   
Mike turned to Jessica as soon as the door was closed, “I don’t need to be here. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself at my place”  
Jessica raised her eyebrow and stood there staring Mike down, “You’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself?”  
“Yes”  
“Really?”  
Mike was confused, what was this about? Why did Jessica care? What the hell was that about her son? Looking around he knew that this room was for her son, it had to be and yet it was his ideal room. Everything had been going crazy lately. Why had he been allowed to go on the equipment outside when no one else was allowed to do so? Why was Jessica acting one would think that he was her son but he couldn’t be.   
Yes Mike knew that he didn’t belong to ‘Sir’, none of the other boys had either however that didn’t mean that they weren’t sold to ‘Sir’ or that they weren’t just abandoned babies that no one wanted to ‘Sir’ stole from various group homes. If Mike had ended up there then that meant his biological parents didn’t want him so he couldn’t be Jessica’s, she clearly wanted her son.  
He didn’t understand what was going on here. When had everything changed? It hit him then, it all changed about two weeks ago. Yes he had noticed Jessica watching him, giving him extra attention from afar; he had always noticed when someone was watching him even if he didn’t show it. The only thing he could think of that occurred two weeks ago was that the results of the DNA testing came in. Everyone received a report of their health at that time and Jessica, as the owner of the firm, received her results along with the DNA tests. If the changes came with the DNA tests, Jessica’s letting him stay in her son’s room, climb on her son’s equipment then…  
“You think I’m your son?” He blurted out suddenly completely sidetracking Jessica’s conversation.  
Jessica visibly froze, “What… makes you say that?”  
Mike leaned back on one foot, crossed his arms, quirked his own eyebrow (extremely close to the same look Jessica had done) and he rolled his eyes, “I’m not an idiot; don’t treat me like one”  
Sighing Jessica pulled out three pieces of paper from her pocket and handed them out to Mike, “It’s not a theory”  
Mike looked at her skeptically, wondering what kind of joke this was, before taking the offered papers and looking them over. They were DNA test results, three of them. He had to go over them five times before he even understood what they were saying, when he froze. There was no way, it couldn’t be. And yet the proof was right in front of him, in multiple tests with the same results.   
He was Jessica Pearson’s son.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Jessica's Perspective

Jessica couldn’t believe that Mike had figured it out so fast. In hindsight she probably shouldn’t be too surprised after all everything that she’d seen and heard about the kid around the firm only told her that he was smart.   
She watched Mike as he stared at the test results in his hands. His face was blank, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking or how he was feeling and that scared her a bit.   
As she watched him she noticed that he was having difficulty breathing and that he was stifling a slight cough – letting him go outside hadn’t been the best idea. She didn’t know why she’d allowed it honestly only that she had wanted to make him happy. The play equipment outside had been built for Mike when he was just an infant, her father had made it for him. It was a family tradition that her father would make a play set for the first grandchild from each of his children. Jessica was the third oldest of seven but she was the last one to have a child. When her father made the play set for Mike he had made it big enough that all of the grandchildren could play on it together which meant that it was big enough for adults – it was the only one that was adult sized.   
When Mike had asked to go out and climb on it Jessica had been happy to let him it was one of those things that she had missed out on getting to see when Mike was a child. Now though she could tell that letting Mike go out had possibly made his cold worse, there would be no more going outside until he was 100%.   
Jessica was so lost in her thoughts that Mike’s question caught her by surprise, “So this is why you took me away from Harvey”  
“I wanted to get to know you better” she said.  
Mike scoffed and shook his head, “You could have just told me”  
“I was nervous. I didn’t think that you would take it well” She offered. It was the truth and from the look in Mike’s eyes she could tell that she had been correct.  
“Does Harvey know?”  
“No. I merely told him that I was taking you exclusively for the duration of a case”  
Mike nodded his head, clearly contemplating something before he looked her straight in the eye. “Why did you sell me?”  
Jessica was stunned into momentary silence. Sell him? Why the hell would she sell him? Why would he think that? What had happened to him? She had heard the screaming from his nightmares while he was asleep, they hadn’t stopped until his fever broke. She had been scared and nervous, more than anything though she really wished to know what was scaring her son so badly but unfortunately nothing had been in English – seriously how many languages did Mike know he must have used at least a dozen. Once Mike’s fever broke she had changed him into dry clothes and had seen the scars that littered all of his body, it had killed her. Now her son was asking why she had sold him. What had been done to him?  
Eventually she found her voice, “I did not sell you. You were stolen from me” she stated firmly.  
Mike was silent, staring at her for a long time, studying her she would guess. Jessica held the gaze, never wavering and eventually Mike just nodded his head in assent before changing topics. “Where’s my phone?”  
The sudden shift startled Jessica some, “I have it” she answered.  
“O.K. where do you have it?”   
“In a safe place.”   
Mike sighed, “I need my phone back”  
Jessica quirked her eyebrow, “And why is that?”  
Mike just rolled his eyes, “So that I can call Harvey and let him know I’m on my way”   
Jessica couldn’t believe it, did he really think he was going into work right now? “You’re not going anywhere. Also you’re not working with Harvey right now, you’re working with me”  
“You wanted me for a case so that you could study me not because you need me or even want the case. Pawn the case off to someone else” Mike said completely ignoring the other half of the conversation.  
“My reasons for having you work with me doesn’t matter. I am the managing partner of the firm and if I want you on the case then that’s where you’ll be” Jessica stated then before Mike had time to respond she changed topics herself. “Now. I want you to go take a warm bath and change into some warmer clothes” when she had told him to dress warmly before heading out back she hadn’t meant a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt – he wasn’t even wearing shoes! She would be checking that he was dressed appropriately from now on.  
Mike scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, “What?”  
“Go take a bath and change into warmer clothes” Jessica repeated as she started to guide him towards the bathroom.  
Mike dug his feet in to stop them, “I’m not going to take a bath, I need my phone”  
Jessica sighed before taking a firmer grip on her son and continuing their walk into the bathroom, “I’ve already told you you’re not getting your phone right now.”   
“I need my phone and I need my bag. Where is my bag?” Mike asked as Jessica finally got him into the bathroom and sat him down on the toilet.  
Jessica bent over to turn on the taps and check the temp, “Your bag is with your phone” she answered. She put the plug in before turning to her son, “Now take a bath, I’ll bring you a change of clothes” she said.  
Jessica leaned over and kissed Mike’s forehead before walking out leaving a stunned child in her wake. She had kissed his forehead to check if his fever had returned, thankfully it hadn’t but she was still going to give him some more medicine just incase.  
She walked into her son’s room and grabbed a pair of sweat pants and a long sleeve shirt since Mike would be staying in for the rest of the day. She slipped them into the bathroom happy that Mike was indeed doing as asked.  
Once Mike was set Jessica turned and headed back to the kitchen where she ran into two of her siblings, oh yes how could she forget.  
Not long after Jessica had started to redecorate Mike’s room she had received a phone call from her mother wondering what had happened. Jessica had always refused to change the room in the past so the fact that all of the furniture was now going into storage had her parents a bit concerned. Jessica had hesitated in saying anything because from what she had read newly recovered children didn’t tend to do well with big family gatherings all of a sudden. Her research suggested that it was best to introduce the children back to the family in small groups – three to four at most. If Jessica had told her mother the truth then the woman would have insisted on throwing a massive family reunion, which wouldn’t have been good for Mike so Jessica had lied.  
The lie had backfired however because since then Jessica had been receiving constant calls from different members of her family and then today her oldest two siblings and their two youngest had shown up at her door unexpectedly.  
Jessica turned into the kitchen and saw the curious and slightly concerned expressions on her sibling’s faces. Her older brother Robert and his daughter 26-year-old daughter Phoebe were here as well as her older sister Amber and her 25-year-old son Derek were also standing in the kitchen.  
“Jessica?” Robert asked in concern.  
Jessica stood up straighter and met her brother’s eyes before answering; “He’s Michael” she answered.   
Jessica watched as her family all shared nervous looks, they knew what she thought. She had been thrilled to learn that while many things had changed about her son his name hadn’t.   
“Jessica” Amber started but Jessica cut her off by holding out the DNA test results then turned to pour Mike a glass of orange juice and stir some cold medicine into it.  
Amber took the tests and passed one of them over to Robert. The two studied the papers for a time before looking up at her just as she had finished cleaning up.   
“This is wonderful!” Amber exclaimed at the same time that Robert asked, “Why didn’t you tell us?  
Jessica smiled, “I didn’t want to scare him”  
“You mean he doesn’t know?” Amber questioned.  
“I do now” Mike answered coming into the room. “Where’s my things?” he questioned Jessica again.  
Robert, Amber, Phoebe, and Derek all turned and gawked at Mike. Jessica just sighed tired of this conversation. She took the glass of juice over and handed it to Mike, “I’ve already told you, you’re not getting them back right now.”  
Mike glared at her.   
Jessica matched Mike’s glare ten fold, refusing to back down knowing that she was doing what was best for her son. Eventually Mike broke eye contact and focused on his drink instead. “Why don’t you go find something to do in your room for a little while” she suggested.  
Mike looked confused, “My room?”   
“I’ll show you!” Phoebe offered excitedly, hurrying over.  
Mike jerked away and actually hid himself behind Jessica. She had to admit she was thrilled that Mike was looking to her for protection but Jessica didn’t want him to be scared of his own family. She debated for a second before deciding that right now might not be the best time for an impromptu family reunion. “Phoebe I appreciate the offer but I’ll take care of it” Jessica said politely.  
Phoebe nodded solemnly and backed off some as Jessica guided Mike out of the kitchen and back towards his bedroom.  
“Wait, this is what you meant?” Mike asked as they reached the desired destination.  
“Yes Mike.” Jessica told him, “This has always been and will always be your room”  
Mike bit his lower lip clearly hesitating about something. Jessica almost thought that he wouldn’t ask her whatever it was that he was wondering about when he finally said something so quiet that she couldn’t hear.  
“I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear that” she said kindly.  
Mike hesitated before looking down at his feet and repeating his question, “Does that mean I can borrow one of the book?”  
“Of course!” Jessica said happily, “This is your room, everything in it belongs to you. You don’t have to borrow the books just read them as you wish”  
Mike looked up at her cautiously, “I can read any of them?” he asked.  
“Yes” Jessica assured.  
Mike nodded but didn’t respond. They stood there a minute more before Mike hesitantly shuffled over to the bookshelves and pulled out the first book he came to.  
Jessica decided to let Mike alone for the time being. He was safe in his room and nobody else could come back here without first passing through the kitchen and the rest of the house and the window didn’t open so no one could sneak in, or out, that way either. Mike would be safe here and she needed to go and explain things to her siblings.  
Jessica took one last look back at her son curled up on the chair with an open book and sipping on the juice before cracking the door and turning to deal with the rest of her family, oh joy.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Jessica's Perspective

It took a solid two hours before Jessica was able to convince her siblings to leave. She wasn’t trying to be rude she just wanted uninterrupted time with her son; also Mike had already shown that he was nervous around them and the last thing she wanted was to make Mike nervous in his own home.  
After her siblings left her parents called wanting to know when they could see their grandson and what he was like. They wanted pictures and every single piece of information they could get about Mike. Jessica had answered everything she could however, in truth, she didn’t know all that much about Mike herself. It had taken a further three hours to get her parents off the phone and insure that they weren’t planning a surprise family reunion.   
Jessica had done her research when she had learned Mike was her son. The research had said that newly recovered children weren’t likely to do well with large family gatherings all at once but rather it was best for them to get comfortable with a few people at a time. It also said that Mike would be likely to go between seeking comfort and affection to wanting nothing to do with her. Mike was also likely to wonder why she hadn’t come for him? Why he had been taken? What had happened? Why hadn’t she looked for him – or more accurately – why it took her so long to find him? Because she HAD looked for her son! She had spent every waking hour looking for her son and praying for his safety and return.  
Her research also said that recovered children were likely to be complacent at first until they became comfortable knowing that nothing bad would happen to them. It was good to establish boundaries for the child with clear consequences discussed in advance. Also it would be good to have the child fingerprinted and photographed incase anything ever happened to them again. Lastly it was important to have the child see a doctor, a dentist and a therapist. 

Jessica sighed in relief as she hung up her phone. Dealing with her family had been exhausting and she was grateful that it was done with for now. Looking at the time she was surprised to find that she’d been dealing with her family for over five hours. It was getting late and Mike needed to eat something before she ‘encouraged’ him to go to bed for the evening – nothing helped a cold like a lot of rest. As it was late and she was tired Jessica just reheated the soup from lunch and mixed a cup of juice and nighttime medicine before going to fetch Mike.   
She stopped at her son’s door and waited before she knocked. Mike was sitting in the chair by the bookcase, curled up in a loose ball with a book on his knees. She still couldn’t believe that her son was safely tucked away in his room for the first time in over nineteen years, it was incredible!   
Knocking on the door softly in order to draw Mike’s attention, Jessica stepped into the room, “Time for supper”  
“I’m not hungry” Mike answered before turning back to his book.  
Jessica moved closer and took the book from Mike’s lap, “It isn’t an option. You’ve hardly eaten anything lately” if lately could be considered a month or more.  
Mike looked up at Jessica and she held firm, determined not to show any signs of weakness. They stayed in a silent stare down for a solid ten minutes before Mike huffed and stood up, heading towards the kitchen.  
Jessica followed Mike and watched as he slouched into a chair at the table and glared at the food that was then placed in front of him.  
Just like before, Mike barely consumed a quarter of the bowl before pushing it away.  
“You need to eat more” Jessica stated pushing the bowl back towards her son. Unlike the previous meals Mike now knew that he was her son so she had no hesitation in insisting that Mike finish his food for once.  
“I’m not hungry” Mike argued.  
“This is not an option”  
Jessica watched as irritation flashed across Mike’s face before it went blank. Just as she thought he was going to start eating again Mike pushed the bowl clear off the table so that the soup splattered all over the floor.  
“Oops” Mike shrugged, “Too bad”  
“It’s no problem” she gave Mike a tight smile, “I made a whole pan”  
Jessica stood up and walked over to the cabinets and pulled out a mug with a lid. The soup was at least 80% broth and what little noodles, chicken and vegetables that were in it were so small that they would easily fit through the opening in the lid. She filled the cup two thirds of the way before capping it and handing it to Mike, “Drink up”  
Mike glared at her before setting the cup on the table. Sighing Jessica took the cup and held it to Mike’s mouth but the boy kept his lips firmly sealed.  
“You’re not getting out of this. You need to eat” She held the cup to Mike’s mouth waiting,  
Mike stayed resolute, refusing to accept the soup. Jessica watched as he swallowed what saliva had built up in his mouth and then winced slightly.   
“Sweetheart, you need to drink this” she gently coaxed, “It’ll make your throat feel better”  
Mike stared her down for a few minutes more but she could see that his resolve was breaking. She realized that his throat had to be hurting quite a bit when Mike reached out and took the cup, actually drinking from it.   
“That’s my boy” Jessica praised as she slowly ran her hand through his hair.  
It took almost an hour before Mike had finished the soup (helped along by a lot of coaxing from Jessica) and the juice. The second everything was cleaned up Mike turned to Jessica, “Where’s my phone?”  
Jessica sighed, this again? “I’ve already told you. Your phone is put away”  
“I need my phone” Mike insisted.  
“And why is that?”   
“I need to call Harvey”  
Rolling her eyes Jessica took Mike’s shoulders and walked towards his room while continuing the conversation, “You are not working for Harvey right now so you have no reason to call him”  
“Harvey’s my boss and I’ve been out of the office for two days” Mike protested.  
“Mike, you’re not getting your phone back until you’re better” Jessica informed him as she started pulling down the covers on the bed.  
Mike took a step away from the bed, “I am better and I need my phone”  
“You still have a cold and there’s no one you need to talk to right now. It’s not as though you’ll be going anywhere”  
“What?” Mike asked incredulously, “You have no say over what I do or where I go”  
“You’re my son” Jessica stated as though it were the answer and justification to everything.  
“Point being?”  
Jessica walked over and started guiding a resisting Mike towards the bed, “My point is that I am your mother. I am also the managing partner making me your boss. Everything I’m doing is for your own benefit and right now you are going to bed, you are not leaving this house until you are better, you are not getting your phone back until you’re better and you’re working from my office until I say otherwise.” By this point she had managed to get Mike into the bed, “I have been looking for you for over nineteen years, I finally have you back in my life and I will NOT let anything happen to you. Your health and safety are too important to me to let something happen to you.”   
Jessica pulled the covers up over her stunned son and ran a hand through his hair before kissing his forehead. “Now, get some sleep”   
With that Jessica walked out of the room, flipping the light off right before shutting the door content in the knowledge that her son was tucked safely in his bed for the night.

Jessica headed to her office to get some work done but as she answered her emails her curiosity kept nudging at her. She couldn’t help but wonder why it was that Mike was so determined to call Harvey. Yes the man was Mike’s boss but that didn’t explain Mike’s insistency to call the man.  
Exhaling as she realized that she wasn’t going to get anything done until she at least attempted to answer her question Jessica got up and retrieved her son’s phone. Even though Mike’s phone was locked it still showed that the kid had over thirty missed calls from Donna and almost twice as many from Harvey as well as multiple texts and voicemails though she couldn’t read any of them.  
Still having no answers Jessica picked up her own phone and dialed a familiar number.  
“Hello”   
“Harvey” Jessica paused, unsure on how to start this conversation.  
“Did you need something?” Harvey questioned.  
Deciding to just bite the bullet Jessica came right out and asked the question on the tip of her tongue, “Is there any particular reason that you and your assistant have been calling Mr. Ross’ phone incessantly?”  
There was a pause on the other end of the line, “Harvey...?”  
“And how do you know that?” Came the terse reply.  
“I looked at his phone”  
“How do you have his phone?”  
“Because he’s with me”  
“He’s at your place?” Jessica could hear the confusion and concern in Harvey’s voice.  
“Mr. Ross is unwell at the moment and I am keeping an eye on him to ensure that he doesn’t insist on working and infect the entire office” was Jessica’s diplomatic, and completely bogus, response.  
There was a bit of heavy breathing on the other end before Harvey finally said something, “I’ll be there in twenty” After that all Jessica heard was a dial tone.  
Jessica was completely lost. She knew that Harvey had hired Mike thus felt some type of responsibility for the kid however the way Harvey was acting went far beyond a boss’ concern.  
Jessica let her confusion consume her as she waited for the arrival of her best closer. Thankfully she didn’t have to wait long, Harvey was even early. Not fifteen minutes after he hung up Harvey was banging on Jessica’s door.  
Jessica hurried to answer the door lest the noise wake her sleeping son only to have both Harvey and Donna barge into her home.  
Harvey started the interrogation the second the door closed, “Where is he? What’s wrong with him? How bad is it?”  
Donna didn’t even bother asking her anything instead barging in and heading straight for the living room and looking around. Evidently the woman hadn’t found what she was looking for because she soon moved onto the kitchen and then her office.  
Jessica tried to calm Harvey down long enough to be able to answer his questions while containing Donna and keep from making so much noise that they woke Mike all at the same time. She didn’t succeed.  
“Harvey?” Jessica heard Mike question as he walked into the living room rubbing his eyes.  
“Mike” Harvey and Donna said together. The two completely forgot about Jessica as they rushed towards Mike and enveloped him in a hug.  
“I need to breath” Mike got out a few moments later.  
Harvey and Donna let Mike go however a second after Harvey grabbed Mike’s arm, turned him to the side and delivered two strong swats to Mike’s backside.  
“Ah” Mike gasped as he was turned back to face Harvey.  
“What did I tell you about over doing it?” Harvey questioned annoyed.  
Before Mike could answer Jessica cut in, “What do you think you’re doing?” she questioned Harvey as she quickly put herself between Mike and the other two people in the room.  
Harvey opened his mouth to respond but it was Donna who spoke up, “Harvey warned Mike” she sent a pointed look to the boy at this, “That he wasn’t to over do it while he was working for you. Harvey TOLD Mike that if he got sick because he didn’t take care of himself then he’d be in trouble”  
Jessica was completely lost. Harvey and Donna were confusing the hell out of her so this time she posed her question to her son whom up until this point had been silent, “What is going on?”


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Mike's Perspective

Mike had been startled awake by loud banging coming from out in the hall. He silently cursed himself for falling asleep in the first place as he trudged out of hi… the room to see what was going on. That’s when he saw Harvey. Crap.  
Harvey and Donna had surrounded him in a hug before Harvey swatted him, hard. It had hurt but the worst was that it was embarrassing especially in front of Jessica.  
Mike had kept himself silent while the rest talked though he did take the hint from Donna that yes he had broken the rules and yes he was in trouble. He hated being in trouble. Ever since Harvey and Donna had learned Mike’s real age they had been smothering him to death. It was extremely tiresome and now he had Jessica doing the same thing. Sometimes life sucked.  
Jessica soon turned to him however snapping him out of his thoughts, “What is going on?” she asked as though he should be able to explain everything.  
“That’s what I’d like to know” Harvey added turning to face Mike as well.  
Mike looked around him at the three people standing there expecting him to have all the answers. Well guess what, he didn’t. The past two days had been psychotic, hell the past two and a half weeks had been a complete mess. How was he supposed to know what was going on. He suddenly had a mother that he didn’t want and had always assumed had sold him. He apparently had some other family from what he had seen earlier in the day though he wasn’t sure how he was related to them. He was sleeping a lot which was strange since he never slept more than three solid hours. Harvey and Donna were now here and Harvey had sp… swatted him. His head was still fuzzy from his illness and yet they wanted him to explain everything. “How the hell should I know!”  
“Mike” Harvey said in warning.  
Mike turned to Harvey though not in the mood for this today, “Well really? How am I supposed to know what’s going on! No one tells me anything! I had to figure out the kid thing on my own because she” here he pointed at Jessica, “wouldn’t tell me anything and yet insists on holding me hostage and forcing soup down my throat constantly. I’ve been asking for my phone back but apparently I’m not allowed to have it so I couldn’t call you and now you’re here, I’m in trouble and I still don’t know what’s going on!”  
Mike stopped his rant not because he couldn’t keep going but because he was just so freaking tired. Seriously he had been sleeping for days now why was he still tired? He was Mike Ross, the guy who can go eleven days without sleep and seventeen days without anything more than a few apples and some red bull and yet here he was half unconscious and about to fall asleep. What had changed?  
Swaying a little Mike suddenly caught the scent. The scent of his blanket and his newly acquired bear. Where was the scent coming from? In his sleep addled state it didn’t really matter just that whatever it was belonged to him. Everything with that scent belonged to him.   
As he closed his eyes to mere slits he turned himself towards the scent that he loved so much. When Mike noticed that the smell was still a little to far away he moved himself a bit closer, then a bit more and before he knew it he was suddenly pressed up against whatever it was that was covered in the scent. Sighing in content Mike grabbed a hold of this new item and leaned into it surprised that it was rather firm. His newly claimed item was apparently tall and rather comfortable. Mike moved his head until he found the perfect little nook where the scent was strongest and rested there perfectly willing to stay there all night long.   
The next second Mike was passed out and unbeknownst to him his new item happened to be his mother. Jessica was the scent that he’d followed.  
The first thing Mike noticed when he woke up was that he was laying down, the next thing was that he currently had his new bear shoved up to his face. Strange, he vaguely remembered claiming some new item that had an even stronger scent last night. Where had that gone? What had it been? Why was he suddenly finding so many new things that smelled like his blanket? He had searched for years for something that smelled like his blanket with no success and yet suddenly he was coming across the bear and… whatever that thing had been last night.   
As the memories of last night came back to him Mike snapped his eyes open, Harvey and Donna had shown up. He had yelled at Harvey and Donna! He was in so much trouble.  
Groaning Mike rolled out of the bed and made his way to the bathroom before looking in the closet to find something he could wear home. He really needed to get back to the office, after two days off there was bound to be multiple mounds of paperwork on his desk and he needed to talk to Harvey and see what his punishment was. Some days life just sucked.  
Once dressed Mike grabbed his bear (he was not going to leave it behind – it belonged to him after all) and then headed for the front door.  
“And just where do you think you’re going?” Jessica asked from her office doorway.  
Mike sighed, not now, “I’m going home”  
“You are home” Jessica stated as she walked over and started to take hold of Mike’s shoulders.  
Mike stepped out of Jessica’s reach before continuing, “I need to go home – to my home – and then head into the office”  
Jessica walked towards Mike until he had backed himself into a wall and she was able to successfully take a hold of him, “We’ve already discussed this. You are staying here – in you’re home – until you are better. Only then will you be allowed to go back to work where you will be in my office all day. I will make sure that you actually eat lunch and I will be bringing you back home every night to make sure that you don’t try and sneak back in.”  
Despite Mike’s struggles Jessica had managed to push him into a kitchen chair as she lectured. Much to his dismay there was already a bowl of what looked like warm oatmeal and a glass of orange juice sitting in front of him. Really? He wasn’t hungry!  
“You don’t have any right to hold me hostage” Mike insisted firmly as he tried to stand up.  
“You’re my son” Jessica stated as she pushed Mike back down, “Now eat up”  
“I’m no…” Mike started but was abruptly cut off only it wasn’t by Jessica.  
“Oh my goodness! You’ve gotten so big!” a woman exclaimed as she started barreling towards Mike.  
Mike didn’t know who this new woman was. She appeared to be elderly – maybe in her early eighties – though she was still doing well healthy wise. That was all Mike had time to ascertain before she started heading right towards him. Scared and acting on gut instinct Mike shot up from the chair and hid himself behind Jessica. It wasn’t until after he was there that he stopped to wonder why he had sought out Jessica for protection? He’d never needed, or wanted, protection from anyone before. Why would he so willingly hide behind Jessica?  
“Mom” Jessica said placatingly, “What are you doing here?”  
Mike looked over at Jessica shocked. This crazy woman was her mother? Did that mean she was his grandmother? He already had a grandmother. He’d loved his Grammy and was heart broken when she passed. He didn’t want nor need another.  
“I’m here to see my grandson!” The woman said excitedly as though it should be obvious.  
“I thought we’d talked about this” Jessica said.  
“I’m sorry about this” a strange elderly man apologized walking into the room, “I tried to tell your mother this probably wasn’t the best idea”  
Mike took in the man. He appeared to be the same age as the woman and by the way he was acting and the basic evidence Mike felt that he could safely assume this man was Jessica’s father.  
Jessica sighed, “I understand but I already told you that he needed time”  
Mike furrowed his brow, who needed time? What did they need time for? He shook his head trying to rid himself of the small headache that had been creeping up for the past few minutes. As he moved his head he caught the smell again. Where was it coming from?  
Curious about the cause of the smell and not really caring about what the other three were talking about Mike decided to try and ascertain what his new possession might be. After all anything with what he had come to call ‘Mike’s smell’ must belong to Mike.  
Mike turned his head to both sides and behind him before deciding that the smell was coming from in front of him. Strange. The only thing in front of him was Jessica. Well it couldn’t be Jessica; could it? It took a few minutes of internal debating and a couple of minutes more to get up the courage to actually check before Mike hedged forward.   
As Mike moved towards Jessica he was shocked to discover that the smell got stronger. Odd. Taking another step forward and Mike was honestly starting to believe that the smell was actually coming from Jessica. As he took another step forward Jessica turned around.  
“What’s wrong?” Jessica asked softly. She brought her hand up to Mike’s forehead, “Your fever seems to be coming back a little”  
The smell was even stronger now and, solely to test his theory – nothing more, Mike took one final step towards Jessica and found himself barely a centimeter away from Jessica. The smell was the strongest he ever remembered it being and it truly puzzled him. Even more surprising was that Jessica didn’t push him away. Instead she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close allowing Mike to rest his head in the crook of her neck. It smelled really good here. It felt even better.  
“Come on” Jessica chuckled as she started leading Mike out of the kitchen, “Let’s just head to your room for a minute”  
Mike didn’t want to leave the smell so he followed along. Mike could never and would never be able to explain why he loved the smell of his blanket so much only that it was the only thing that had ever made him feel safe. Where he grew up safety was never an option. For some reason Jessica smelled like his blanket only a hundred times stronger. Mike had never felt so safe, which was stupid since he was with another person. He could never be safe with another person in the room.  
Mike wasn’t sure where they were going, didn’t really care, just so long as he was allowed to keep his head between Jessica’s head and neck. No matter how strange or stupid he found it Mike still felt safe where he was and safety was such a rarity in his life.   
“Why don’t you relax here for a little while” Jessica suggested as she set the cup of orange juice on the coffee table and tried to situate Mike on the couch in his bedroom.  
The second Jessica tried to move him Mike clung to her refusing to move. Realizing what he’d done Mike dropped his arms and moved away fully expecting some form of retaliation instead Jessica moved forward and hugged him again allowing Mike to put his head back where it had been before.  
Surprise raged with fear as he stood there but the longer he was there with the strong smell the faster the fear went away.  
How long they stood there for Mike didn’t know and didn’t care. Eventually his legs felt too heavy to hold him up any longer and Mike begrudgingly moved away dropping onto the couch.   
“Sorry” he apologized once seated.  
Jessica sat down beside Mike, “What are you apologizing for?”  
Mike fiddled with the end of his shirt, “Didn’t mean to keep you”  
“Oh baby,” Jessica sighed moving closer, “I loved having you in my arms. Whenever you want a hug just come up to me, I’ll never push you away” she smiled as he pulled Mike towards her, “I can’t tell you how happy it makes me”  
Mike was confused, “Really?” why would anyone be willing to let him stay attached to them for any length of time?  
“Absolutely” Jessica assured.  
Once again they found themselves sitting in comfortable silence with neither one wanting to move away. The only difference this time was that Jessica insisted that Mike drink his juice while they sat there. About twenty minutes after Mike had finished his drink he found himself starting to think a little more clearly and couldn’t help but wonder.  
“Where’s Harvey and Donna?”  
“They went back to their homes last night after I assured them that you were fine and that it was I who kept your phone from you” Jessica said.  
“So I’m not in trouble?” Mike asked hopefully. He really didn’t want Harvey to ground him again – that had sucked!  
“No, you’re not in trouble” Jessica assured.   
Mike’s belief that the smell meant safety was merely solidified here. He was sitting here surrounded by his smell and he had gotten out of trouble with Harvey and Donna. What more proof could he ask for?  
It took another hour before Mike fell asleep once again.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Mike's Perspective

Two excruciatingly long and boring days later Mike was finally dubbed ‘healthy’ by Jessica and allowed to go to work. Of course he wasn’t allowed to go anywhere until he’d eaten the toast that had been put in front of him and then he hadn’t been allowed to walk in – his bike still being at the firm – so he was currently sitting in the back seat while Jessica drove to the office.  
“So why can’t I sit up front?”  
Jessica met his gaze in the rearview mirror, “You’re fine where you are”  
Mike rolled his eyes. That was the same answer that he’d received five times now and it was becoming tiresome. He didn’t see what the big deal was; he’d sat upfront last time. Regardless - they had finally arrived.   
Mike unbuckled and started to get out only to run into the door. He tried the door again however it wouldn’t budge. “I need…” he started only to find that Jessica was no longer in the car. What the hell?  
“Let’s go” Jessica surprised him, opening the door.  
“What are you my chauffer now?” Mike asked sarcastically.  
“You were unable to open the door so I opened it for you” Jessica stated simply.   
Mike wanted to argue but he was being led – yes Jessica had him by the arm and was dragging him along after her – into the elevators. The second the doors closed Mike yanked his arm out of Jessica’s grasp and moved as far away as possible in the small confined space, a whole two feet.  
Stepping out of the elevator Mike barely managed to get out of Jessica’s reach. Jessica moved towards Mike but was intercepted by Douglas, an older – and annoying if you asked Mike – senior partner.   
“Mrs. Pearson, I was hoping that we could talk about the Benson merger,” Douglas asked.  
“Of course” Jessica replied.  
Jessica made to grab Mike however he was faster and slipped out of her reach and around the corner as fast as he could without running.  
“Finally” Mike breathed as he barreled into Harvey’s office, “Freedom”  
Harvey raised an eyebrow at his associate’s behavior and lack of manners, “I take it you’ve been deemed healthy?”  
“I was never sick”  
Harvey just shook his head, “So how did you manage to get away from your mother?”  
“My mother?”  
“Yes Mike, your mother,” at Mike’s confused look he continued, “You know the woman who gave birth to you”  
“Gave birth… You mean Jessica?”  
Harvey rolled his eyes, “Yes Jessica, your mother”  
“So she told you?” Mike asked. Why had Jessica told Harvey? She hadn’t even told him! He’d had to figure it out himself. What made Harvey worthy of such knowledge?   
“Yes she told me”  
“How long?”  
“How long what?”   
“How long have you known?”  
“Since I barged into her home looking for you when I couldn’t get ahold of you” Harvey stated and if Mike wasn’t mistaken he still seemed rather irritated about that.  
“It wasn’t my choice, I tried to get out of there and I tried to get my phone back but she held me hostage” Mike defended himself.  
Harvey sighed and sat back before something seemed to come to him, “Does she know where you are?”  
“Does who know where I am?” Mike asked confused.  
Harvey leaned forward on his desk staring Mike down, “Does your mother know where you are?”  
“She’s the one who brought me” Mike shrugged.  
“OK but does she know that you’re in my office?” Harvey asked slowly.  
“How should I know? I came here as soon as she was occupied”  
“Donna!” Harvey called before turning back to him, “Are you insane?”  
Mike was confused, why did Harvey seem so uptight about Jessica knowing where Mike was this very second? He was in the firm; he worked here, what was the big deal? “I came to see my boss. How is that an issue?”  
“You didn’t tell your mother” Harvey stated simply.  
“Why would I need to tell Jessica?” Mike asked. Harvey never had a chance to respond.   
“There you are!” Jessica exclaimed as she bursted into Harvey’s office and headed straight for Mike pulling him into a hug.  
Mike wriggled himself free of Jessica as best he could. While he did find it comforting to be near the smell the last thing he wanted was to be caught hugging the managing partner in the middle of Harvey’s office. The walls were made of glass; anyone could walk by and see. “Where else would I have been?”  
Jessica pushed Mike back far enough so that they were looking each other in the eyes, “You’re supposed to be with me or don’t you remember?”  
Mike sighed, this again? “We’ve been over this. I’m not working from your office”  
“This isn’t up for debate,” Jessica stated firmly as she took hold of Mike’s arm and stated leading him towards the door.  
Mike jerked back, “I’m not working from your office!”  
“You are an employee at my firm, I dictate where you work” Jessica informed him as she grabbed Mike’s arm yet again only in a firmer hold this time and dragged him out the door.  
Mike wanted nothing more than to push Jessica off of him, scream at her and then run off to the familiarity of his cubicle and the mounds of work that was no doubt awaiting him. He didn’t do any of those things however seeing as how he was currently in the middle of the firm’s hallways and he didn’t want to make a scene. Still though that didn’t mean he was completely without options, he could just wait until Jessica let go of him in her office and make his escape then, surely she wouldn’t bother to track him down a second time, he just wasn’t worth it.  
Jessica and Mike didn’t manage to make it to her office before they were stopped again, by yet another senior partner – Markson. As Jessica was distracted with Markson Mike succeeded in prying her hand off of his arm and slipping around the corner towards his cubicle, he had almost made it before Louis spotted him.  
“Mr. Ross, how nice of you to finally decide to grace us with your presence” the little rat of a man greeted.  
“Good morning Louis” Mike replied as he tried to side step the man. Louis however had other ideas.  
“With me please, I wish to talk to you”  
Mike sighed but followed Louis anyways knowing that there wasn’t much he could do unless he wanted to have this conversation in the middle of the hallway. Still, he wasn’t looking forward to it.  
Once they were both in his office Louis closed the door before coming up to Mike, “Now, please inform me Mr. Ross, how many days were you missing for?”  
Mike couldn’t help but notice how Louis had placed himself between Mike and the only means of escape from the room – that wasn’t a good sign, “I wasn’t missing Louis”  
“Oh really, then just where were you?” Louis didn’t give Mike a chance to respond though before continuing on, “Because I can tell you where you weren’t. You weren’t at your desk doing your job!”  
Louis went on from there, ranting at Mike. With every word Louis seemed to become angrier, and angrier until Mike was truly starting to become concerned for his safety. Louis was smaller than he was and Mike could take the man if he truly needed to however it wouldn’t be without some physical injuries to himself and he was pretty sure that if he were to beat Louis in a fight he’d be fired on the spot.  
It was stupid, really, really, stupid but Mike found a small – very small, miniscule even – part of him wishing that Jessica were there to put a stop to this and drag him back to her office where Louis would never dare to bother him. Unfortunately he’s left her with Markson and there was no way too… His cellphone! He knew her number; he’d overheard her say it once while he was working from her office.  
While Louis was still ranting, his face a rather unhealthy shade of red, Mike subtly slipped his hand into his pocket and dialed Jessica’s number – no easy task mind but he proved successful. Not even two minutes later Jessica was yanking the door to Louis’ office wide open.  
“Mrs. Pearson” Louis squeaked in surprise his rant seemingly forgotten for the moment.  
“Louis” Jessica nodded in response, “What’s going on?”  
Mike could almost see the beads of sweat running down Louis’ forehead as the man spoke, “I was merely informing Mr. Ross of the trouble that he’s in for missing so much work without a reason”  
“Mr. Ross,” Jessica held out her arm to Mike who practically bolted to the woman, “has been working for me out of the office, he has not missed anything”  
Mike watched the scene before him from his hiding place behind Jessica. Louis and Jessica were in a silent stare down. Louis was in charge of the associates and Mike was an associate therefore he probably felt as though he should have been informed about any reason Mike had for being out of the office. Mike was fairly certain that the quality of the paperwork being done while he was gone was nowhere near what Louis was used to – even when Mike was working from Jessica’s office all day Louis would still leave a good twenty to thirty files for him to do by the next morning. No Mike knew that Louis was upset and probably felt as though Jessica had stepped into his territory. Jessica on the other hand just seemed to be extremely uptight about anything concerning Mike lately and it was extremely tiresome.   
“Is there any other business that you had with Mr. Ross?” Jessica asked after a solid five minutes of silent staring.  
“No” Louis bit out as politely as possible.  
“Very well then” Jessica said and she turned around, taking Mike’s arm and started leading them out the door.  
“Mr. Ross, I need these by…” Louis started holding out a good-sized stack of files.  
“Mr. Ross is working for me at the moment Louis” Jessica interrupted.  
Louis sneered/smiled at Jessica, “He is still an associate and I have work for him to do”  
“Then pass it off to another associate” Jessica instructed.  
Mike could actually see the vein on Louis’ forehead pulsing, “The associate’s fall under my…”  
“Mr. Ross is no longer under your purview, I will handle him from now on” Jessica stated flatly and with that she dragged Mike out of Louis’ office and into her own.  
“I don’t fall under you or Louis, I answer to Harvey” Mike stated the second Jessica’s office door was shut. He was currently trying to get Jessica to let him go however he was having little success.  
“You are my son and my employee, you answer to me”   
“Being your son does not mean that I answer to you at work” Mike argued.  
“Being my employee does so unless that changes you answer to me” she pulled him over to the table and set him down in a chair, “You will sit here silently”  
Mike bit his lip, he knew better than to truly push his luck, Harvey had warned him a few months ago what would happen if he were to quit. Harvey had, in no uncertain terms, told Mike exactly what he would do if the boy were to quit and Mike had no interest in testing if Harvey was telling the truth. Recognizing defeat for the moment Mike started to look around for his work – might as well do something productive.  
Seeing his work on the other side of the table Mike started to stand and retrieve it.  
“Sit down” Jessica instructed.  
“I need the files in order to work”  
“Right now you are not working, you are sitting quietly”  
Mike froze. Why would she want him to sit quietly? What was the point in that? He didn’t understand, “You’re loosing it,” he stated before moving to stand again.  
“Sit down” Jessica ordered.  
Mike did sit, only because he was too stunned to do anything else though – it was because of no other reason he was sure.   
“If you haven’t figured it out by now, you are to sit there quietly for fifteen minutes and think about what it is you have gotten up to this morning and where you were actually supposed to be” Jessica informed him.  
Mike scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. Think about what he’d done? It sounded as though she had sat him in… “You put me in time out?”  
“Yes” Jessica responded.  
What the hell! He wasn’t a child! He was nineteen years old that constituted an adult! She couldn’t just put him in timeout! Mike was getting ready to tell her just that when there was a knock at the door, seriously does this woman never get any peace?  
The new visitor – a junior partner by the name of Harris, showed a bit of confusion at Mike being in the room however ignored the associate otherwise as he talked to Jessica. Mike sat there in agonizing boredom as the two talked, but once the fifteen minutes were up Jessica did, subtly, gesture that Mike could begin his work.  
Mike leapt at the chance grabbing some files, the laptop and his headphones. Mike focused on his work as Harrison left and Jessica had five other visitors and eighteen phone calls, all before lunch.


End file.
